The Sound of Music is one of my favorite films of all time. I adore the simple love story that serves as the main plot, and I’ve had all the songs memorized since I was a little kid. This is one of the few movies that I can watch over and over again without getting bored — despite its three-hour length. In fact, I try to view it at least once a year even though my only copy is on VHS tapes.

This year, 2010, is the 45th anniversary of the theatrical release of the film, and to commemorate the event the studio will soon issue this Sound of Music 45th Anniversary Collection. This is a box set that would make any collector proud! It comes with the entire film on Blu-ray, plus a bunch of extras that you can’t get anywhere else. Some of the extras include bonus features on the discs, as well as a 100-page “My Favorite Things Scrapbook, a limited edition hand-painted “My Favorite Things” music box, a reproduction of the 1965 souvenir program, a 45th Anniversary edition of the soundtrack, and more. What true fan of this film could resist this set?

Right now the Sound of Music 45th Anniversary Collection is on sale at Buy.com for just $68.99, which is an excellent price. I absolutely MUST get this set, especially because I want all the treasures that come with it. I’m getting some money in next Friday, so that’s when I plan on ordering this. Good timing, as the collection will be released on November 2!

Hawaii Five-0 1×06 — “Ko’alauloa”: Man, I give up. At the beginning of the season, I told myself I’d stick it out for at least six episodes. This was ep 1×06, and I’m just not getting into the show. I know other people love it, so maybe it’s not exactly terrible, but it’s not my kind of thing either. I like McGarrett and Danno when they’re bantering with each other, but that’s such a small portion of the 42 minutes that the rest feels like it’s dragging out forever. I do not like Jin or Kono, and think their characters are completely wooden and boring. The cases are uninteresting as well, so there’s just very little to pull me in. I’m not sure if I’ll find something else to take Hawaii Five-O‘s place this season. I’ve heard good things about Blue Bloods, and I generally like cop shows, but I’m so busy with work and school this year that it might be best to save myself an extra hour per week. We’ll see.

Cougar Town 2×06 — “You Don’t Know How It Feels”: This was a pretty decent episode. I wasn’t too interested in Jules with her dad, but I did like how Laurie got to throw things every time Jules said something southern-y. I was expecting the dad to be a real redneck, though, so I was kind of surprised that he turned out to be relatively normal.

The costumes were pretty good. Is it weird that as soon as Grayson said he had a Prince costume, I knew he was talking about the singer? I don’t even think “fairy tale prince” entered my head, because what kind of costume would that be? Laurie and Ellie dressing up as each other was hilarious, as was Travis popping in as Andy.

Speaking of Trav, I’ve been getting total vibes between him and Laurie on screen. Is that deliberate? Please do not put them together!! I know he’s over 18, blah, blah, blah… but still. The age difference is too wide (not talking about the real actors) and it would be…icky…for Laurie, Jules’ friend, to go after her son.

Criminal Minds 6×06 — “Devil’s Night”: I think I’m just going to pretend this episode never happened. I didn’t like anything about it, not even the totally forced “cuteness” of Hotch and Jack at the beginning and end. The writing has been terribly uneven this season. I’m probably not going to give up on the show yet, but I feel like I’m watching more out of habit than anything else at this point.

Modern Family 2×05 — “Halloween”: Wow, I loved that episode! All the storylines were great, and the whole thing came together very nicely in the end. Plus, I love it when the three families are all in the same place, which of course happened at the haunted house.

One of the best parts of this episode was that we got some more insight into Claire and Phil’s relationship. Claire might be a stick in the mud most of the time, but she does like to have fun. Halloween doesn’t seem like her kind of holiday at first, but I can totally see how she and Phil would get sooo into it like that. That’s just more common ground between them, which is great. I had a hard time figuring out why they were even a couple in S1, but now there are plenty of layers to their relationship.

The Mitchell Spiderman thing was awesome too. I loved how he was crouched in the bathroom in that Spiderman pose and how he had to crawl down the drainpipe in an attempt to make it to his car unseen. But the best part of that whole thread was Cam’s line about how “Yesterday’s lazy cures today’s crazy”!!! LOL, I am totally going to use that whenever I can!

Gloria and Jay were funny too, which is something I haven’t been saying much of this season. It was hilarious when she started paying close attention to her accent (Claire: “Since when does she speak English???”) and very sweet when Jay said he fell in love with her voice even before he turned around and saw her. Awww.

Castle 3×06 — “3XK”: I thought this was a very strong episode. The case was actually interesting and suspenseful. I had my doubts about Gates being the killer, and then when the cellmate was brought into the picture, I kinda figured out what was going on. I didn’t get all the details straight until that final scene where everything was spelled out, but I knew things weren’t as they seemed.

I can’t really figure out why Jerry let Castle and Ryan live, though. I know the explanation on the show was that Castle would suffer because it was “his job” to catch Jerry, but he failed. Consequently, every new victim would be on Castle’s hands. But it’s not really Castle’s job to catch killers, is it? Why would Jerry use that as a rationale? I know it’s not as though Castle would ever be killed off, but still… the explanation should at least make sense.

So now Jerry is still free and presumably going to live a low-key life for a while until the heat is off him. He’ll probably work at some prop shop like Gates or a log furniture store or whatever until he figures out what to do next. Or maybe he has enough money to truly go into hiding for a while. After all, he did pay $100k for the sweaty guy’s operation, right? And then he’ll eventually emerge to indulge his sick fantasies. Why do I get the feeling he’ll turn up in NY again, even though a real killer would run far away from there? Could it be that that’s the only way Beckett and Castle would ever get to catch him? Absolutely.

Oh, and how about Alexis’ secret admirer being her boyfriend Ashley? Personally, I think that’s a bit creepy. Also, if I were Ashley, I’d be worried about Alexis because she obviously was intrigued enough by this secret admirer to want to meet him — all without breathing a word to Ashley, of course. I’d be worried that it was so easy for her to want to meet another guy and keep it a secret… wouldn’t you if you were in his position??

That was a nice shipper moment at the end between Castle and Beckett when she put his hand on his knee and he put his on top of hers. Baby steps, but I’ll take it!

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Jenny (played by Carey Mulligan) is a 16-year-old high school student whose father Jack (Alfred Molina) is always reminding her to study so she can get into Oxford. Jenny handles the pressure relatively well and is an exceptional student whom teachers such as Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams) believe will go far in life.

Jenny’s track to Oxford takes a significant detour, however, when she meets David (Peter Sarsgaard). Despite their age difference — David is in his thirties — the two pursue a romantic relationship that involves concerts, nightclubs, fancy restaurants, and weekend trips with David’s friends Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). As Jenny spends more time with David, she spends less on her schoolwork and her grades begin to slip. Surprisingly enough, parents Jack and Marjorie (Cara Seymour) don’t seem to care, as they are as much charmed by David as Jenny is.

As the story progresses, we see Jenny and David becoming more serious about each other. Jenny loses her virginity to David, and he eventually proposes to her. Jenny, accepting the proposal with her parents’ blessing, decides to drop out of school and skip her college entrance exams. But then a shocking revelation changes everything and sends Jenny’s life into a tailspin.

Liked:

Carey Mulligan was brilliant in the lead role. She managed to make Jenny a sympathetic character, and made me care about what happened to her. The Oscar nomination was well-deserved.

All the characters were intriguing in this film. Indeed, this was mostly character-driven, so it was important that everyone be well defined and substantial. I was expecting only David and Jenny to have any sort of substance to them, but got so much out of Jack, Marjorie, and Helen — as well as Miss Stubbs and Miss Walters (Emma Thompson) in their limited roles.

I absolutely loved the scene where Jenny went to Miss Stubbs’ apartment to ask for help. As someone who has had close relationships with teachers in the past, the situation really resonated with me. Plus, Miss Stubbs’ response of, “I was so hoping you’d say that” was pitch perfect.

I had to admit that I was caught off-guard by the reveal about David. I probably should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. I mean, I knew something was not quite right about him, but couldn’t guess the cause.

I also liked how Jenny’s mistake didn’t mean her life was essentially over. The things you do at 17 sometimes have lifelong consequences, but usually not. You can make mistakes and move on, which is precisely what she did.

Disliked:

How is it that none of the main characters commented about the age difference between David and Jenny? He was twice her age, for God’s sake! And though this might not have been as bad as Humbert and Lolita (who was 12), Jenny was still a schoolgirl, no matter what the age of consent was. But no one, not even the parents, so much as batted an eye about David’s age despite the fact that he looked like he should be checking into medicare supplement plans while Jenny was as fresh-faced as you might expect a high school girl to be. Very, very odd.

Rating:

Overall, I thought An Education was a surprisingly good film. The acting is top-notch, the story is engaging, and the characters are worth watching for 95 minutes. I really liked this one and give it 5 stars out of 5.

Well, no surprises at the box office this weekend. Paranormal Activity 2 displaced Jackass 3D as the No. 1 movie in America with a haul of $41.5 million. Jackass slipped to the second spot with ticket sales of $21.6 million. In third place was Red, a film starring Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, a couple of guys that probably have to spend a bit more of their paychecks on anti wrinkle eye cream than they would like. Man, they’re getting up there in age, aren’t they? The difference is particularly noticeable for Willis, especially since I’ve been watching old Moonlighting DVDs from when he was in his prime. Still, it’s pretty commendable that even aging stars are able to rake in $15 million at the box office.

There weren’t any other new releases in the Top 10, but the Clint Eastwood/Matt Damon film Hereafter earned $12 million in wide(r) release after being shown in a handful of theaters last week. Here’s the complete Top 10 at the box office for the weekend ending 10/24/10:

Moonlighting 5×09-5×11: I watched a few more Moonlighting episodes the other day, and am now just two away from finishing the entire series. It’s taken me long enough, though. I’ve had these DVDs for probably three years already!

In my last Moonlighting entry, I noted that the series seemed to be back on track as far as focusing on mysteries and actual cases. Unfortunately, that trend ended with episode 5×10, called “When Girls Collide”. This ep featured Virginia Madsen as Maddie’s cousin, and played on the David/Maddie angst angle rather than a case. Basically, David sleeps with Annie (the cousin), who is married and knows all about his history with Maddie. The episode was left open-ended, but I know the thread picks up again in 5×12.

“When Girls Collide” was notable for a cameo appearance by Willis’ then-wife Demi Moore (who played a non-speaking role of a woman in the elevator that David tries to flirt with) and for a Die Hard movie poster visible behind David and Annie when they walk through L.A. in the wee hours of the night.

“In ‘n Outlaws” represented everything I ever hated about Moonlighting. Not only did that ep not have a case, but it featured Agnes and Burt throughout. David and Maddie were in for a total of two minutes. What a terrible, terrible episode. Who cares about Burt’s stupid family?? Why was SO much time spent on them? BORING! And Curtis Armstrong was just a bad actor, IMO. Did he ever get any roles after Moonlighting? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he turned to a health care career or something completely unrelated. Who would willingly want to watch him on screen??

“Perfetc” (5×09) was OK, since it featured David and Maddie working on a case, but I’d be lying if I said it held my attention throughout.

Hawaii Five-0 1×05 — “Nalowale”: This episode was better than last week, but that doesn’t mean it was actually good. I am still feeling nothing for Daniel Dae Kim or Grace Park’s characters because even after 5 episodes they don’t have any real personality at all. McGarrett is getting better, but there has been too little Scott Caan recently. I know it’s because of his knee injury, but still… I’m wondering why I even bother with this show anymore. It just seems that there’s very little entertainment value at all. I’ll give it a few more weeks, but if it doesn’t work out, I might go back to House or something.

Cougar Town 2×05 — “Keeping Me Alive”: Another good episode here. Cougar Town is now my second favorite show on television, right after Modern Family and ahead of Burn Notice and Castle. The characters are just amazing… I love them all and really wish I had friends like that! Highlights from Wednesday include Penny Can or Truth, Bobby not landing the redneck client for Jules (thought for sure he was gonna succeed), Andy and Grayson reenacting Good Will Hunting on Laurie — and actually having it work, and margaritas rimmed with crushed aspirin. Ha!

Also, I was a bit surprised at how good Bobby looked with his shirt off during the pool scene. With clothes on, he looks like he’s got a beer gut, but I guess not. Andy definitely needs to figure out how to lose belly fat, but Bobby is fine in that department (as is Grayson).

Criminal Minds 6×05 — “Safe Haven”: I wanted to like this episode because I absolutely love Mare Winningham, but while she was good in her role, the unsub just didn’t do it for me. I had a hard time believing the “kid” was 13 when he looked to be 15 or 16, so I didn’t buy the helpless routine. Plus, he wasn’t a particularly good actor. This was especially noticeable in the van scene with Mare, when he was wavering between being crazy and somewhat normal. It was pretty cringe-worthy. (I do have to admit, though, that I was totally duped by the minister. I had not seen any previews or promos, so I had no idea who the unsub was, and totally thought it was the minister!)

Can this please, please, PLEASE be the end of the Ellie storyline? I won’t go into how inconceivable it was that a kid could make it that far into the FBI building without anyone calling to verify that Derrick actually knew her… the whole thing was just dumb. I tuned out during the Derrick smackdown of the mother — who, what, kept a journal instead of actually trying to contact her daughter? I have no idea… I wasn’t paying attention and still don’t care.

Modern Family 2×05 — “Unplugged”: I thought this was a very solid episode. Every family had a funny storyline to work with, and there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments for me. I loved the Dunphys’ idea about unplugging for a week, but seriously, I was with Luke on that one. I would have been the first one out for sure. I thought it was great that Haley outsmarted them with that soap phone and that Phil’s downfall was Tom Brady on his fantasy football team. Ha! I seriously thought Haley would be the first to crack. I never expected her to be able to go a single day without texting, phone calls, YouTube, or checking sites like Facebook and www.acnebody.net. I liked the end of that storyline too, where Phil and Claire were just like, “Oh, we’re not getting you a car. That was bad parenting. We lied, etc.” That’s totally a normal reaction — but most sitcoms would have them caving in and buying the car anyway.

Mitchell and Cameron were awesome, as usual. Mitchell’s line about them being the only gays to raise an underachieving Asian baby had me cracking up! And Cameron trying to pull off being 1/16 Cherokee in order to trump the interracial/lesbian/disabled couple was hilarious!!

At least Jay and Gloria’s storyline involved something other than overt cultural differences this time around. Yeah, the Colombian vs. American thing made its way in there eventually, but it started out with the neighbor’s barking dog, didn’t it? I’ll take that as a good sign!